A microelectronic package contains one or more microelectronic devices. When containing multiple interconnected microelectronic devices, the microelectronic package may also be referred to as a “System-in-Package” or “SiP.” The microelectronic devices contained within a SiP can include various different combinations of semiconductor die, Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) devices, optical devices, Radio Frequency (RF) antenna structures, and passive components, such as discrete capacitors, resistors, diodes, and inductors. Advancements in packaging have brought about significant reductions in SiP size and corresponding improvements in SiP device density. As SiP device density increases, heat concentrations within the SiP also tend to increase in severity. Consequently, it can be important to ensure that excess heat generated by the devices within a highly dense SiP is efficiently dissipated to ensure proper SiP operation. Efficient heat dissipation can also be important when, regardless of size, a given SiP contains RF circuitry or other high power devices prone to the generation of excess heat during operation.
It is thus desirable to provide SiPs and methods for fabricating SiPs capable of dissipating relatively large quantities of heat generated by devices contained within the SiP in a reliable and efficient manner (referred to herein as “thermally-enhanced SiPs”). It would be particularly desirable if, in at least some embodiments, the thermally-enhanced SiP could be produced to have reduced planform dimensions and a relatively high device density, while maintaining its ability to effectively dissipate excess heat. It would still further be desirable if embodiments of the thermally-enhanced SiP could provide relatively high mechanical stabilities and/or could enable integration of existing circuit-carrying semiconductor die into the SiP without significant redesign or retooling. Other desirable features and characteristics provided by embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent Detailed Description and the appended Claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings and the foregoing Background.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of the invention described in the subsequent Detailed Description. It should further be understood that features or elements appearing in the accompanying figures are not necessarily drawn to scale unless otherwise stated. For example, the dimensions of certain elements or regions in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements or regions to improve understanding of embodiments of the invention.